Sgt. Rhodes to be missed because of move to Denton County

Ray Prichard

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, July 30, 2002

The mood could be either sadness or happiness, depending upon who you are talking to and when you are talking to them, when you discuss the recent departure of Sgt. Waylon Rhodes from the city of Humble Police Department.

Rhodes decided to take early retirement and has moved his family to The Colony, Texas, in Denton County, just north of the city of Denton. At the time of his retirement, he had attained the rank of sergeant and was working on the night shift.

When contacted on what was moving day, he expressed both sadness and happiness in leaving the city that has been his home for all except the first six months of his life. When he was an infant, his family moved to Humble in 1959 from Orange, Texas to be closer to several family members already residing in this area.

His sadness is in having to leave such a large number of relatives, including former Mayor Wilson Archer, his uncle, and an even larger number of friends, neighbors and former co-workers.

His happiness is because he feels that, by moving, he and his wife Vicky will be able to provide their children Brandt, 10, Amber, 12, and Matthew, 14, a better environment in which to grow up. The Colony is a town that reminds him of the small town that Humble was as he grew up, he said.

He continued that, "Unfortunately, Humble has grown so much and the schools have gotten so large and I want to offer my kids the same small-town opportunity that I had."

His co-workers include many employees of the Humble Police Department, where Rhodes has worked for the last 19 years. Before that he was with the Harris County Sheriff's office for two years. Those co-workers are mostly happy that Rhodes is taking advantage of an opportunity that many of them would like to have. They are somewhat sad to lose their long-time friend.

However, as Rhodes said, the world is a small place now and between excellent transportation and communications facilities, nobody is more than a few hours or even an electronic instant away.

He switched from the Harris County Sheriff's Department to the Humble Police Department in 1983, where he started as a patrolman. He rose through the ranks as a result of hard work and a willingness to do what it takes to succeed. The first 12 years included being a member of the SWAT team, where he achieved a promotion to team leader, a prestigious position.

He then was transferred to the Crime Suppression Unit, where he served for three years. That position entailed going out on the streets to intentionally intercept potential or ongoing criminal activities and quickly quell and subdue those often-dangerous situations. His unit was featured in a major crime story on Channel 11 news at one of those scenarios, and was praised for their quick professional action.

He was part of a unit that worked extensively with the Harris County Organized Crime Unit, participating in several drug-related arrest situations. Also, he was in charge of the Warrant Division for a short while.

One of his most challenging jobs was in 1994 to 1996 when he was appointed as the first Humble Police Department Physical Fitness Coordinator. The city sent him through extensive training with the Cooper Aerobics Institute, the nation's largest such facility, and he became a certified aerobics fitness instructor.

Essentially, the job was to conduct frequent and professional physical fitness courses for his fellow officers. At first they resented his efforts and even misunderstood the motives. Some older officers, who may have been somewhat out of shape, interpreted the position as a covert attempt to ease them out of the department.

Rhodes knew that was not the case and by patient communications and coaxing, he was able to convince those officers and many younger ones, that the program would produce positive benefits in their lifestyle as well as in their job performance. Rhodes said that he felt the biggest benefit to be gained by each officer was that, an increase in an officer's personal fitness allowed the officer to defy a very disturbing statistic; that is, the average life expectancy of a police officer, after retirement, is only seven or eight years.

The good news is that Rhodes has retired from the Humble Police Department and hopes to achieve his dream of a country lifestyle for his family. The bad news is, at the age of 44 and with a wife and three children to support, he is not able to retire in the true sense of the word.

"I could take it easy if I didn't have kids," he said jokingly.

The bad news is that he will be back on the force, in his blues, very soon, as a member of the city of The Colony Police Department. They are glad to have access to the talents and skills Rhodes has honed over the last 21 years as a law enforcement professional.

His parting remarks were that he feels it has been an honor and pleasure to serve the Humble community for the past 19 years and is sad to be leaving behind lots of friends and family. He is, however, glad to be able to continue in his career of law enforcement at this new home for his family.